Adventures for All

Random Cool Travel Tidbits

Sometimes, I just run into a few cool travel tidbits that I don’t know very much about, but still deserve your attention. Or someone else shared something that says everything that needs to be said. Let me share a few that I’ve run into recently.

On Twitter, I learned that Kenya Airways had an all-female crew fly its first Boeing 787 from the manufacturing line in Washington to Nairobi. Captain Irene Koki Mutungi, the first female African qualified in the type, was in command. I hope that she’ll be the captain of many more flights – when I get the chance to visit Kenya, I’ll hope she’s at the controls. You can follow her on Twitter.

Tidbit #2 is just a little idea I developed as a craft beer fan. Sometimes I run into a tasty example of locally brewed beer that I want to take home to share with friends. Obviously, it has to go into checked baggage where it’s subject to the rigors of baggage handling incidents. So what to do? Well, I wrap a sock or to around each bottle and slip it into the shoes I pack. I wear a size 13 US, so I have room to spare! I shared this with a friend when I was in Brazil – since she was kind of shocked by my ingenuity and determination, I thought a few of you might be able to use this tip.

Club de Malte – a good place to find items to fill your shoes in Curitiba, Brazil.

Fourth in the lineup is a movie called The Final Member. This is a story about the curator/founder of the Iceland Phallological Museum and his quest to add the ultimate exhibit – a human penis – to his collection. It was really fun to see a guy I’d met on the screen … and holy cow, I’ll never hear the words “Tickle me, Elmo” quite the same again. You won’t believe the too-strange-to-be-true characters and situations in The Final Member.

Willies on display!

And next – fellow blogger Amy talks about the odd mindset of people who want to travel, but can’t quite get off the dime. She mentions failed strategies to save for travel, and offers her own tips that might help you go from wanna-be to for-real traveler. I agree with her words, and I’d also add a few tips on how to free up some travel money: Get rid of your cable/satellite TV subscriptions, and don’t buy a fancy car. Seriously, I still can’t fathom why people have huge car payments when most of what they do is go to work. Most of us have to choose – seeing the world or looking fancy for no good reason. If you have some flashy car and moan about not being able to go to Australia, well, that’s the choice you made.

Thanks! Some of the hybrids run a few extra bucks, so that makes it kind of rough to blend “green” and “cheap.” Some of the modern diesel engines get awesome mileage and burn really clean, too (especially if you run on biodiesel). If Subaru ever makes a turbodiesel Forester, I will surf a wave of my own drool to the dealership to get one!